Posts

Research

Chess Research

500 × 500

 

Ingredient Images

https://www.istockphoto.com/search/2/image?phrase=onion+layers

https://www.stockfood.com/images/00170644-Tomato-Slice

1,300 × 1,089

390 × 360

I used these images of different burger ingredients to create some of the chess pieces in my set.

 

Exercise

Creative Skills Assessment

 

Iterations

Concept Ideas

 

From the list that I made, I chose my favorite concepts and made a chart that allowed me to brainstorm what each chess piece would be represented as.

Concept: Baking Vs. Cooking

Initially, baking versus cooking was my partner and I’s favorite idea. However, the concept wasn’t quite clicking to the characteristics of the original chess pieces as much as we liked.

Discovering an Idea in a Unique Way

My partner and I were stuck at what concept to go with at this point. However, I came across one of my previous projects when in Illustrator and got the idea to do the food prep idea for our chess pieces. In my Layering Space project, the paper layers stacked on top of each other and were different ingredients. Since my partner and I were already thinking about incorporating food into our pieces, I thought that this would be a fun take on that idea by including the stacking element to the chess pieces.

Concept: Food Prep

For this concept, I brainstormed different types of food that could be stacked or mixed together using multiple ingredients. My partner decided on doing a sundae and I decided on doing pieces of a burger meal.

After finalizing what concept we were doing, I started listing out all the possibilities of chess pieces that I could make. The majority of my pieces ended up being the ingredients of a burger and some of the sides that go along with it. I also tired figuring out the structure of the rounded pieces, the stacking capabilities, and the measurements of the pawns.

 

Concept Statement

For this project, my partner and I worked together to redesign chess pieces that fit a new concept. The rules of chess will stay the same, but our pieces must create a new narrative with each other. My goal is to make the game more interactive by adding in a fun element once you’ve captured a chess piece. Our concept is food prep and we redesigned all the chess pieces to be the ingredients of each of our chosen foods. As the pieces are collected and taken off the board, the players can stack the ingredients to make the food. I chose t0 make the ingredients and sides of a burger for the redesign of my chess pieces. The king is the burger patty, unarguably the most important part of a burger. The queen is the burger bun, because it does most of the work by keeping all the ingredients together. The bishops are cheese slices, because they both reach the four corners. The knights are tomato slices, both are unexpectedly very helpful. The rook pieces are lettuce slices, because they both are strong pieces that help protect. The pawns are the condiments, supplementary toppings, and sides. One half of the pawns are bottles of ketchup, mustard, ranch and mayonnaise. The other four pawns are a box of fries, pickles, an onion slice, and a soft drink. The main materials that we used are chipboard, wood glue and paint.

 

Production

Making the Pieces Digitally

I duplicated and then flipped the circular pieces that had etching, so then the design would show on both sides of the chess piece.

King

Queen

Bishop

Knight

Rook

Pawns

Making the Extra Parts- Grocery List, Plate, Grocery Bag

 

Lasercutting and Gluing Pieces Together

 

These two pieces, the bishop and pawn, did not require gluing together and just needed painting before gluing the magnet.

Other pieces were glued to a duplicate on the back of it so the etching was shown on both sides. The king, knight, rook, and one of the pawns used this method.

Another method that I used to create the pieces, specifically the queen and plate, was simply just stacking and gluing multiple pieces of chipboard together.

The final method that I used to construct my pieces was slip joints for the fries, soft, drink and condiment bottles. I also made tops/bottoms for the pieces to make them look more like the object plus small details, like the straw and tips of the bottles.

Making the fries removable from their box was a fun element that I wanted to include, so I put a piece of magnetic tape on the bottom of the fries box and then covered it with one more piece of chipboard to conceal it. I planned to add small magnets on the bottom of the individual fries after painting.

For the magnet covers, it was pretty simple to glue together since it was only three parts. I previously tested to see if the magnets were strong enough to connect to each other through the chipboard, so I knew this stand method was going work. The ring in the middle fit around the magnets and the names on the bottom were to help the players differentiate the pieces easily.

I came up with this magnet stand method so that the circular pieces would be able to stand up on the board and be easy to play with, but also because the stand can easily be removed for when the players want to stack the pieces after capturing them.

Painting and Adding the Magnets

I separated each piece to the color that I was going to be using for it so I knew that I had all the colors I needed and so it would be faster to paint. I started by painting all of the pieces white first so the color would pop more.

Once I painted on the main colors of each piece, I went in and painted on little details on certain pieces. However, I did struggle a little with just how much detail to paint on since there was already engraving and I didn’t want to pieces to look so realistic. The tomato on the left was a fail. I later on only painted the middle. The lettuce pieces were more what I was wanting in terms of detail.

I glued the magnets onto the bottom of the main pieces and connected the corresponding magnet stands.

For the produce pieces, I wanted them to have a little bit of shine so they wouldn’t look so matte from the acrylic paint.

Testing Out the Pieces

 

Final Product

Entire Set

King + Queen

 

Bishop + Knight + Rook

 

Pawns

 

Extra Pieces

 

Link to Portfolio Piece: Chess Redesign

Research

Meeting My Giftee

I met up with my gift receiver, Korene, in-person. I asked her about her interests, favorites of different things, her dislikes, and how she got into industrial design.

 

Finding Quotes

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/design-quotes

These two quotes were my favorites after reading through multiple quotes about design. The quote on the left in the orange reminded a lot about industrial design, so I highly considered this quote since my mentor is in that discipline. However, I ended up going with the quote on the right, because it felt that it was still a good quote and even related to my gift since it was going to be constructed to look like a book.

Sizing

https://gatekeeperpress.com/guide-to-book-sizes/

I wanted the book to look a realistic size, so I researched common book sizes. I ended up choosing the 9” x 6” size since the measurements on each side could be divided by 3 and would make the dividers easier to move around wherever.

 

Book Hinge Methods

How To: Design a Living Hinge

260 × 379

Another thing that I had to research about was hinges for this wooden book box. I considered living hinges, but the curve that it created was not lining up with how I visualized the book. After getting some advice with my classmate, I found a better hinge system for the design that I was using.

 

Exercises

Best Gift

After doing this exercise, I took note of specifically why I chose this gift as my favorite and planned to incorporate those feelings in the gift that I will be making for my mentor.

Constructing a Container

For this exercise, my partner and I got this uniquely shaped lightbulb. I went into Sketchbook and started drawing out basic geometric containers. During this ideating, I realized that one of the containers looked like a flashlight and thought it would be perfect for this lightbulb.

I tried constructing the section that holds the lightbulb using two different templates, one being a short and wide cylinder while the other was a pyramid. Neither way really worked, but I did encounter issues when folding the Bristol board and it reminded me of the techniques that we learned last semester which ended up helping me in the rest of the construction.

I mainly focused on the handle portion of the flashlight while my partner began making the top part that held the flashlight. I used Bristol board on the inside to make it more sturdy and then covered it with black card stock. My partner folded card stock around the lightbulb and used tape to hold together the top section.

To get the light bulb out of the flashlight container, we needed something to push it through from the bottom. We made a cylinder similar to the flashlight handle except it was thinner so it could fit inside the handle. We also made a cap to go on the bottom.

This is how our final product for the exercise turned out. I had the idea to turn the cylinder meant to push out the lightbulb into batteries so it fit the concept more than a random rod.

 

Iterations

I went back to the notes I took during my meet-up with Korene and highlighted the interests I thought I would be able to work the most off of for her gift.

Sketching Out Ideas

Starting with her interest in reading and drawing, I brainstormed with the idea of making a pencil case that looks like a book. I originally had the dividers unmovable, but later changed that once I settled on this idea. I also sketched out some container/ covering ideas for the gift.

I also had two other ideas, a phone stand and more basic pencil case. I sketched out a phone stand to look like a easel, to both represent her interest in drawing and to function as something useful for her. The pencil case sketched out on the right was supposed to be structured more simply than the book pencil case, but would have more decorative aspects on the exterior.

In the end, I decided on making the book pencil case.

 

Testing out Sizing and Slip Joints

I cut out two different sizes of book sizes to see which one I liked the most and also tested out how slip joints work. I considered using them for the borders of my book, but only ended up using them for the dividers on the inside.

 

Concept Statement

For this project, we had to construct a 3-D gift for an assigned mentor. I reached out to my recipient, Korene, and met her in-person to get to know her better before designing her gift. My objective for this project was to make a gift that was both thoughtful and useful while also showcasing the craft that I have learned throughout this year. Taking into consideration my recipient’s love for books and drawing, I designed a pencil case that looks like a book on the exterior. To make the gift more useful, I turned the hollow interior into a customizable storage space using notches along the sides and multiple different sizes of removable dividers. Since I knew there were going to be extra dividers that were not used inside the case, I created a drawer within the spine of the book pencil case to house them while they are not in use. I also had the quote that I chose, fittingly relating to both design and books/stories, engraved inside the top cover. To encase my gift, I wrapped the box using book pages of Romeo and Juliet as a nod to her love for theater and to hint towards what was inside. I believe the main principles of design present are unity, variety, and proportion. The main elements of design are form, space, shape and line. I primarily used plywood, wood glue, and the laser cutter to create my gift.

 

Production

Figuring Out the Structure and Finding Measurements

Here, I mapped out where the notches for the dividers would go and how many different types of dividers I was going to make. I also came up with the idea to adding different sections of wood on top of a slab of wood to be the notches instead of trying to engrave them, so they were more sturdy and accurate.

 

Figuring Out the Hinges and Adding in a Drawer

As I was figuring out how I was going to install the hinges, I realized I needed to add an extra section of wood on the left side to have something to glue the hinges to. That space was pretty wide and I was concerned on how to utilize so it wasn’t just a heavy block of wood. I then soon realized that I could utilize that space to be a drawer for the extra dividers.

Starting Illustrator File- Making Spacers

Once I found all my measurements, I started by making spacers of the consistent measurements that I’d be using throughout designing the box. I made a spacer that was 3″ to help me with the distance of all the notches and a 2mm spacer for the actual notches since that was the thickness of the material I was using.

Creating the Dividers

 

 

Using the spacers, I created the horizontal and vertical dividers, making sure they were the correct width and height. All of the notches of the dividers were three inches apart, 2 millimeters wide, and halfway down. I also split some of the dividers in half so she could have smaller sections in the case.

Creating the Cover and Drawer

To make assembling everything a little more easier and accurate, I used the dividers previously that I made to help me make thin sections of etching so I could easily place the wood notches where it needed to be.

 

Using the sections, I enlarged them to be the height of the book and become the wood pieces for the notches.

The black box represented the width of the secret drawer and I adjusted the bottom cover to fit both the drawer and storage section. The top cover was split into two for the hinges/ opening.

After adding the quote on the inside of the top cover, I went back and turned everything back to black and white while also adding some final details, like the lines on the borders so it looks more like book pages.

 

Laser cutting and Gluing All the Pieces Together

Book Spine/ Drawer

Inside Borders/ Pages

Top Cover

Since my plywood was so thin, there was no way I was going to be able to screw in my images. Instead, I used super glue and taped it down so it wouldn’t shift. I also realized that the backing of the book spine that holds in the drawer was slightly interfering with how the front cover was closing, so I sanded that part down into a more rounded point.

After letting my hinges glue overnight, I tried opening the case and realized that I glued one of the hinges of crooked. I removed both of the hinges using acetone and took more precaution by marking where to glue.

Wrapping the Gift

  

To wrap my gift, I wanted to use book pages from a book that was no longer being read. I found a copy of Romeo and Juliet (the Sparknotes version) when going through my collection and knew it’d be perfect since my mentor was a big fan of theater. I cut out a bunch of pages, including the title. Then, I taped all the pages from the back using masking tape since it was easy to rip. Once I wrapped the gift, I tied a piece of string in a bow around it and lined it up with the cross that I made with the page borders.

 

Final Product

Wrapped Gift

Gift Exterior

Interior

Secret Drawer and Dividers

Divider Combinations

Details

 

Link to Portfolio Piece: Gifting Design

Research

Getting to Know Our Partner

Exploring Different Types of Masks

Just to start thinking about concept of masks, I started sketching out different types of masks that I know about and their structure.

Coming Up with a Narrative

On this sheet, I wrote out the key points of our narrative and how my ant mask related to it. I also ended up using it as notes for our presentation.

Squid Game Masks

700 × 708

After doing the exercise, my partner and I were bouncing ideas off of each other and landed on the masks from Squid Game, a popular show on Netflix. We specifically decided to take inspiration from the VIP good lion mask and the black ant masks of the workers in the game.

Lion Mask Inspiration

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Ant Mask Inspiration

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I referenced this image when trying to including more aspects of an ant into the mask since the Squid Games mask was more abstract compared to the idea I was trying to convey.

 

Exercise

During this exercise, I focused more on using body augmentation with the masks. I thought of making a mask that involved the entire head and had the person’s hair become the straps of the masks that we were wearing. I tried conveying the idea that the masks became part of the person’s face by including their hair or facial hair. My other idea was more geometric and less about body augmentation.

 

Iterations

Sketching Out Ideas

Once we decided that we were going to use the Squid Games masks as our inspiration, I started sketching out the different masks from the show and trying to see how we could change them to better fit the narrative that we came up with. This was also when we decided that our masks were going to look completely different from each other to emphasize the two sides of our narrative instead of looking similar.

 

Lion Mask Template

My partner and I first started on attempting to make a template for the lion mask. We used a picture of a geometric lion mask and drew out different parts of it, trying to replicate it. After trying different methods, we got a good amount of the lion’s face solved but figured out that drawing from a 2-D photo was never going to make a 3-D model.

Concept Statement

For this project, we must collaboratively make two three-dimensional masks that relate to a pandemic. We will be creating a lion mask and an ant mask, referencing Squid Games. In this narrative, humanity lives in a post-apocalyptic world where radiation and pollution has infected everything. The air is poisonous, and the radiation causes horrific changes in skin composition and deteriorating bone structure. Precautions have been made by mandating a full mask requirement. This requirement protects the contaminated skin and hides what damage has already been done. People who have survived have already suffered irreversible changes to their face and neck and this damage is hid by the masks. Each mask is different, representing your social status and occupation. The mask inspiration came from their hierarchy of species, the wealthy represented as strong carnivores and the working class represented as insignificant ants. The ant masks are mass produced because of how many people are trapped in poverty and some are even homemade, which is why the material is weak and cracking. The lion mask is glorious to look at, proving the immense amount of wealth and power. The gold flakes and gemstones strengthen this idea. We will primarily be using cardstock, paper, glue, paint, and scissors to construct the masks. The design principles in these masks are emphasis, proportion, and pattern. Emphasis is present, because the gold lion mask is loud and overshadows the dreary ant mask. The proportions of the two masks are similar and the structured pattern of the lion mask represents the sleekness of the wealthy, which is lacking in the ant mask and the wrinkles on it. Color, form, texture and shape are the main elements of design. The difference in color, shape, and texture all point to the major differences of the masks and those wearing them.

Production

Creating the Ant Mask

Paper Mache

To create the curved and rounded ant mask, my partner and I decided on doing paper mache. We marked on a balloon how big the mask should be and used scraps plus a mixture of glue and water to cover the balloon.

When the final construction of our masks started, the initial plan was to simultaneously work on both masks together. However, due to timing and attendance, we ended up having to split the work and did each mask individually. So from this point on, I mainly worked on the ant mask and my partner took over making the lion mask.

After letting everything dry, I removed it from the balloon it was on and trimmed the sides so the mask was more smooth along the sides.

Adding Color and Eyeholes

I proceeded to paint the mask black on both the front and back since the mask would be viewed at all angles. I also marked where to cut out the eyeholes on the inside of mask.

Antennas

To make the antennas of the ant, I simply used a long wire then bent it to form each side and left a strip in the middle to attach the wire to the top of the mask. I used hot glue to secure it, but covered it with tape and paint to make it look more handmade.

Roughing it Up

Since our narrative had a large emphasis on how this ant mask was handmade and dirty since it was too expensive for those wearing it to replace it, I started adding cracks to further push the narrative that the mask was old and needed to be replaced. Also, I added the tape and bandaids to show that the people wearing it were trying to salvage what they could out of the mask.

 

After adding all of the tape and bandaids, I thought I was done but I wasn’t satisfied with eh result at all. I took some time to think about it and concluded that the mask didn’t really match the narrative and looked like I didn’t put much effort into it. I wanted it to look more roughed up and dirty, so I proceeded to do just that.

 

Roughing it Up Even More

To add the look of dirt, I used many mixtures of multiple paints to create different shades of brown. I started out by stippling the paint on with a brush. However, the pain looked too much like it was painted on and I wasn’t satisfied since that was not what I was going for, so I tried out a different method.

 

Instead of stippling the paint, I turned to splattering it onto the mask. I was much happier with the result that came for the splattering. I focused most of the splattering on the cracks that I made and around the border of the mask since that is where the person wearing it would be touching it the most to put on the mask.

 

Adding the Elastic

The final step was adding in the elastic band to help secure the mask onto one’s head. To further push the idea that the mask was handmade, we used the elastic from the face masks that we all wore during this pandemic since they are easily accessible. We ended up braiding it to make it more sturdy and I painted it brown so it didn’t look so clean compared to everything else. I made sure to paint it quite dark since the elastic is a part of the mask that gets held the most.

 

Final Product

 

Details

 

Link to Portfolio Piece: Mask Up

Research

Meeting My Partner

 

YouTube videos for Exercise

 

Instrumental Music

As my partner and I were deciding out narrative, we decided on using Disney princesses as our concept and naturally decided to use one of the most iconic Disney songs.

Images for My Paper Mechanism

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTiktalk-Cinderella-Figurine-Ornaments-Decorations%2Fdp%2FB07PSMWHLZ&psig=AOvVaw1Q31Yf8jrr9S7-9JIjRp6P&ust=1646280868812000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAkQjhxqFwoTCNCS5bGcqPYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAY

http://kidsultimatezone.blogspot.com/2015/06/cinderella-story.html

 

522 × 696

After listening to our music many many times, I picked out a section of the music that I liked the most and that I felt matched the scene in a way.

 

Exercise

Two Paper Mechanisms

Pop-Up Bouquet of Flowers

 

Birthday Cake Pop-up

 

 

Iterations

Sketching Out Ideas

After deciding that our diptych would revolve around Disney princesses, I started coming up with different types of paper mechanisms that could relate to different princess movies and their iconic scenes. I played around with paper mechanisms for scenes in Cinderella, Aladdin, and Mulan.

I had three different scenes and paper mechanism ideas for the movie, Cinderella. Considering my iterations were the only ones made between the two of us, we decided to use these concepts for our project.

Rough Draft #1

After discussing how we were going to split the work, I started making a quick and very rough draft of the pull tab mechanism that I was going to be making. We also decided to do a little extra bit and make a pop-up castle, so I made a draft of that as well.

Rough Draft #2

 

Once I had looked into the scene that I was doing more, I realized that the Duke in the story also played a big role in the scene since he is chasing after Cinderella running away. I wanted to include his role in my section and made another draft of the two mechanisms using printer paper.

Rough Draft #3

I made my next draft with card stock since I knew that was the material that I was going to use for my final and wanted a more refined draft to reference. As I played around with the mechanism involving the Duke, I noticed that the mechanism was a little difficult to push in and out since the card stock was so thick. So, I went back to my printer paper draft as a reference and realized that that model moved much smoother.

After making that discovery, I changed the inside accordion strip that allows the mechanism to move inside the card stock draft to printer paper and it all moved much easier after that.

Rough Draft #4

For my final rough draft, I made a model that included both of my paper mechanisms on one sheet of card stock. I wanted the make sure that everything fit and that my measurements of where everything lined up was correct. I even traced out the Cinderella figure for a more accurate view of the entire sheet.

I also tested out an accordion folded strip of paper that would fold out when you pull down on Cinderella tab to reveal music notes from the instrumental music that we chose.

Experimenting with Cricut Machine

I tried using the scoring tool on the Cricut machine to see how my background would show up through that method. I wanted the background to be subtle, but the scoring didn’t show up as well as I hoped. I tried using a black marker to draw over the indents, but it was not a good look so I switched to etching with the laser cutter.

Test Cuts of Figures

I tested out a cut where there was an outline around the figure and one without an outline. I ended up liking the figure without the extra outline on the outside since it turned out much cleaner.

 

Concept Statement

For this project, my partner and I will be working collaboratively to create a diptych. We will be recreating iconic scenes from the Disney movie, Cinderella. Our diptych will include three different types of paper mechanisms, a pop-up, diagonal pull tab, and multi-panel pull tab. From left to right, the mechanisms will tell the fairytale in chronological order. On the left, Helly will be creating the iconic dress transformation scene by making a multi-panel pull tab. In the middle is the pop-up castle that we worked on together. I will be recreating the scene when Cinderella’s glass slipper falls off and the duke chases after her by using both a diagonal pull tab method and mechanism with a flap that flips out to reveal the figure. To incorporate the music in my paper mechanism, I am using the actual music notes from the instrumental music of “When You Wish Upon a Star” and revealing them under the pull tab that Cinderella is attached to. To accommodate for all the mechanisms, our diptych will be the maximum size of 14” x 17”.  The main design principles present will be emphasis, movement, and unity. These can be seen when going through the mechanisms and seeing them move. Also, the main elements of design in our diptych will be shape, color, and form. We both will primarily be using colored cardstock, Bristol board, glue, and laser cutter to construct our paper mechanisms.

 

Production

Pop-Up Cinderella’s Castle

Tracing and Splitting into Layers

Constructing the Pop-up

Tracing the Images of the Scene

 

 

 

Mechanism Tabs and Dividing Layers

 

 

Adding in the Musical Element

 

Lasercutting

 

Assembling

 

Glass Slipper Placement

When I was designing my mechanism digitally, I realized it was going to be difficult to line up the glass slipper exactly where I needed it to be. So, I cut two small slips of paper to act spacers for the small piece, as shown in the second photo of this row.

Duke Reveal Flip Tab

Lining Everything Up and Adding Cinderella

For the Duke’s reveal, I lined up his foot with the top step of the stairs so it would look like he was actually standing on them. Also, I made sure that Cinderella was not blocking any of the music notes under the tab when I pinned her on and that she was covering the glass slipper at the beginning.

 

Final Product

 

Details

 

Link to Portfolio Piece: Dynamic Pages

Research

10 Reference Photos

1,087 × 1,040

1,024 × 1,024

1,748 × 2,048

1,024 × 813

1,024 × 768

1,000 × 780

1,200 × 852

1,584 × 1,152

920 × 609

3,000 × 3,000

I had three possible ideas for my project during this time, fruits, a submarine window and a ramen bowl, and included around 3-4 photos for each one.

 

Exercise

For this exercise, I began brainstorming on Sketchbook by jotting down different theme ideas and how I could use them within the letters of my initials. After experimenting a little, I decided to use the “L” initial for my last name and combining it with a tube of lipstick to signify my hobby of using make-up.

 

I found a variety of fonts to experiment with, ranging from skinny fonts to very bold fonts. I tried out making the “L” with the lipstick tube standing and having the cap complete the letter at the bottom, but I didn’t really like how the cap was turning out and that there was no longer any font being used within it. I came up with a couple of iterations of the lipstick tube and the bottom part of the letter, so I just tried matching them to each other to see what would look best.

 

I decided on using the lipstick tube with the implied reflections on the side and having the bottom part of the “L” just the outline with the corners curved so they matched with the tube a little more. I also made a small diagram for the laser cutter portion of the exercise.

 

Iterations

Jotting Down Ideas

 

Idea #1- Fruits

My initial idea for my project was for my design to construct layers of paper to look like various fruits. I did really like this concept at first, but I soon realized that it would be difficult for the fruit to translate well if they were greyscale. For example, my orange slice could easily be mistaken for a lime or lemon slice when I use the greyscale colors.

Idea #2- Ramen Bowl

The idea I experimented with was a bowl of ramen. I researched and sketched out some ingredients that I could include. Also, I play around with the layout and how I should orientate the view of the bowl. I eventually decided on this concept, because it interested me the most and was a fun idea to experiment with. I was most excited to try weaving all of the noodles together to make it a realistic looking bowl of noodles.

 

Concept Statement

Production

Drawing Out Each Ingredient and Tableware

After going through my list of ingredients, I settled on the pork belly, fishcakes, egg and green onion. I liked how each varied in size and that I’d be able to use a good amount of the greyscale colors on all of them. I drew out everything in Adobe Illustrator, including the bowl and some extra noodles that I could use to weave through the rest.

 

Putting All the Components Together

Once I finished drawing all of the ingredients I wanted to include in my paper ramen bowl, I tried layering everything with each other to see how the final product would turn out. I was originally drawing with a black stroke around each item, so I made sure to test out what it would look like without the stroke to get an image that was closer to what the final would be. I also made sure to resize my design onto an 8×8 art board since I had initially drawn them much smaller.

 

Adjusting the Layers

 

Black Layer

 

Dark Grey Layer

Mid-Grey Layers

Light Grey Layer

White Layer

Chipboard Cuts

 

Using the Cricut Machine and Laser Cutter

On the left, you can see that the top part of the bowl cut off during the first pass. After adjusting where I placed my design in the Cricut app, I successfully printed out the noodles layer and got the hang of using the machine.

The chipboard that I planned on using for the utensils was too thick for the Cricut, so I did have to use the laser cutter for this part. Typically, I would try to rub off all the ash and burn marks from the laser cutter, but I left some of it near the bottoms of the utensils since it looked like a subtle shadow in a way.

 

Assembling and Gluing All the Paper Pieces Together

Once all of my pieces were all cut out of the Cricut machine, I realized that they all had this line of paper around them that I believe was a result of the stroke in my file. I went in with a blade to clean up all the edges. Also, I went ahead and assembled some of the small pieces together so I wouldn’t have so many pieces to keep track of.

Looking back at my file for this layer, it is not a surprise that there were noodles pieces that were fully cut out. However, I did find a way to use this to my advantage later on, despite the extra assembling needed.

I started off with the solid black bowl layer and then glued on the grey noodles layer. However, I only glued the outer part of the of noodles piece where the rim of the bowl is. I kept the actual noodle pieces loose so I would be able to weave the extra noodle pieces through.The rest of the parts were fully glued.

To glue the remaining pieces, I pulled out my iPad and used it as a guide to assemble the puzzle. I glued on the pieces with just two dots of glue on each side so I would have some room to slide the dark grey noodles under them.

I weaved the extra noodles over and under the glued noodles. Then, I started tucking the ingredients under some noodles and overlapping the edges of the noodles on top of them.

The last ingredient I have to include was the green onions. I just scattered them around and didn’t really have any sort of system or pattern to it.

Figuring Out the Backing

I thought of two options for the backing, either brown chipboard or white foam board. After assembling all the pieces onto both, I was contemplating whether or not I should even include the chopsticks and spoon at all. I had got the foam board because I wanted something a little bigger in size and thought it would keep in theme with the greyscale colors of the papers. However, my original intent was to use the brown chipboard and cut out the silverware with the same materials since it resembles wood more. I didn’t like how much the chopsticks and spoon stood out with the white backing, so I stuck with the chipboard.

Critiques and Feedback

Overall, my critiques were pretty positive, but there were some comments that brought up concerns I also had with my project. I did take a bit of a risk make the utensils in the chipboard since the project was supposed to be in grayscale colors, but I think it has paid off.

Final Product

 

Link to Portfolio Piece: Layers

Research

30 Circles

Mind Map

I chose the question, “Is it healthier to live in the city or the country?” On the top half of the entire book, I went through the pros and cons of living in the city and did the same on the bottom for living in the country. I added in little drawings throughout, and had many lines connecting to different ideas and topics. At the end of the book, I came up with a verdict that briefly explains where would be the best for you to live depending on your preferences.

Finding Inspiration Photos

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search

570 × 570

After getting stuck on what I wanted to do for my sketchbook cover, I went looking for inspiration online and found the photo on the far left. It caught my attention, because it was essentially all of my ideas in one. The middle photo is a quote that has this interesting font that I have used before in a personal project and wanted to use again for this project. The last photo is what I used for inspiration on what to put around the phrase, like in the first photo.

Exercise

Mini Sketchbook

I had so many ideas that I drew out all of them in this exercise and then ended up becoming very torn on what to do. For the front, I had an idea of drawing out the word “design” using different art supplies or making a circular window to look inside the book. On the back, I wanted to keep it simple, but have it still match the front. Surprisingly, my final sketchbook ended up combining all of these ideas into one.

 

I wrote out a long list of possible materials to use and what my surprise element in my book should be. I wanted to use basic paper, like card stock and grid paper. I wanted the book to be mostly blank and simple so my ideas that I draw within it would speak for themselves and not be overshadowed by too many materials. For my surprise element, I mainly either wanted something that gave me storage or a way to organize the book overall. There are a lot of ideas about labeling and lists, but I decided to go with pockets on both sides of the book.

 

Iterations

Front Cover

I experimented with whether or not I should fill in the word or not. I was debating whether to make the word pop or keep it as an outline like the rest of the images around it. Also, I played around with keeping or taking out the circle around the edge. I was torn between the two, because the circle was originally intended to be taken out but it became a nice touch as that image came along.

Back Cover

I knew I wanted a clean and simple back cover, so I decided to just put my name and the other requirements for the back cover on it. I mostly played around with what font to use and the placement of the text. I wanted a bold and slanted font on the back to slightly resemble the thick and curvy letters on the front. I also decided to put all of the text in the middle to further create a sense of unity with the front and back. The outline on the second photo shows the outline of the outer edge of my sketchbook. I wanted curved corners so the edges wouldn’t get so beat and torn up over time.

Production

Designing the Cover

 

I used the font from the quote photo above as inspiration to write out the word “sketchbook.” I added in the circle as a guide for the materials that I plan to insert inside, referring back to the photo that I found.

 

 

I filled in the word “sketchbook” completely in black to make it pop. Slowly but surely, I added multiple different types of supplies and arranged them to fit around the word. Originally, I had the circle there to make sure I kept all the materials in a circular shape and planned on removing it afterwards. However, I realized that I liked it better with the circle after testing removing the circle.

Gathering the Materials

I chose brown chipboard for my cover to give it more of a wood or natural feel and chose colored card stock that I felt fit the cover but was also colors that I enjoyed. I also had found a notebook filled with grid paper that I hadn’t used and decided to use a couple pages in my sketchbook. For my surprise element, I decided on pockets and found these craft paper envelopes that closely matched the color of my cover material. I also got neutral colored yarn to bind my book together.

Using the Laser Cutter

The first go on the laser cutter didn’t go quite as planned and my image ended up a little askew. I had hoped to still be able to use it, but I knew I would run into trouble once I wanted to bind the book.

 

On the second try, I was able to successfully print out my cover at the Innovation Studio. I did have to scrub and wipe it down to get rid of all of the debris, but it turned out great. I also cut out all of my pages.

 

Binding the Book

I had everything printed out and realized that I did not make any holes for my yarn binding to go through. I wasn’t able to go back to the laser cutter so I improvised with a screwdriver and stray screw that I thankfully found. I marked out two spots on both my front and back cover to go through with the screw and screwed until I got to the outside. It took more effort than I anticipated, but it was successful.

Once I did the front and back cover, I used them as guides for all of the card stock and paper meant to go inside the book. I also had to rearrange all of my pages again since they got so mixed up during the process. I lined up my sketchbook materials and used a yarn needle to thread the yarn through both holes. I ended up laying the book completely flat when tying it so it had the right amount of slack whenever I opened it.

 

Final Product

Front and Back Cover

 

Contents and Details

 

Link to Portfolio Piece: Sketchbook

Research

Practicing On Isometric Grids and Word Mashups

To start off the project, we practiced drawing letters on an isometric grid and combining two words into one.

30 Word Mashup

When making these mashups, I tried mashing up words that “matched.” I used verbs that made sense with the noun and used adjectives that were commonly used to describe the corresponding noun. So, my words were random but not completely.

Miro Board

Focusing on three words more intensely by going through the laps was helpful. I was able to get a feel of how I should be brainstorming for the project and even figured out what word I wanted to use for my final.

Choosing Colors

Since I knew I was going to have my letters  made out of baking ingredients, I chose colors that are commonly seen on the packaging of baking ingredients. Thankfully, we were allowed to use white, grey and black along with our four colors.

Exercises

Exercise #1

I was having a lot of trouble initially drawing my initials digitally, so I switched to grid paper. Once I figured it out on paper, I traced and transferred my sketch onto Illustrator and filled it in with color.

 

Iterations

Once I decided on using the word “Bakies,” I knew that I wanted each letter to be representative of some type of baking ingredient or supplies since the mashup was created using the words “bake” and “cookies.” So, I came up with different iterations for each letter of the word.

Letter “B”

The letter “B” was arguably the hardest one to figure out. I couldn’t figure out what had both a curved shape and a straight edge. I originally thought of a wooden spoon and bowl or a Kitchen Aid, but they both didn’t really look like the letter to me. After experimenting a little more, I realized that I could stack flour/sugar bags and use the labels on them to make the holes in the letter.

Letter “A”

From the start, I thought out making the “A” on oven. However, the lowercase “a” just in the box of an oven didn’t look like it was meant to be there to me. I messed around with making the letter the actual shape of the oven and the outcome was much better.

Letter “K”

My original idea of making the “K” a type of container for multiple utensils ended up being my final idea since I really liked how it incorporated a lot of the smaller utensils that I wasn’t able to use for the letters.

Letter “I”

I knew from the start that I wanted the dot of the “I” to be a cookie. For the rest of the “I,” I thought it was very fitting to make it a milk carton. However, I did have to change the one cookie into a stack of cookies to make it look better in the isometric form.

Letter “E”

The letter “E” was also another challenging one to figure out. I came up quite a lot of ideas, mostly out of utensils, but wasn’t very satisfied. I thought of a bowl with ingredients making the letter, an oven, a cooling rack, a cracked egg, and even a recipe book. My last iteration of the multiple ingredients making the letter was my favorite and seemed like a good way of including the smaller ingredients.

Letter “S”

At first, I wanted to make the “S” out of a liquid that was being poured out of a bottle, but I realized that the liquid would be both difficult and unusual looking through isometric form. I ended up coming up with the letter being a version of a metal cookie cutter.

Layout Ideas

I also thought about making the background something baking related. I thought of having the letters rest on a baking sheet or even an oven mitt. However, I figured that the letters were intricate enough, so I kept the background a solid color.

Once I finished illustrating my word, I also tested where to put my definition of my word and decided on the bottom right corner.

 

Production

Brainstorming

I started brainstorming on isometric grid paper first. Then, I went into Sketchbook to test out my ideas digitally, but ended up brainstorming even more ideas for each letter. This was the most time-consuming part, but also one of the most fun parts.

After many, many rounds of brainstorming, I started drawing the basic shapes of each letter in Illustrator. I put images of my brainstorming nearby so I had them to reference back to.

Once I had the basic shapes, I went back into each letter and added in the smaller details and shapes. I added the labels, the oven buttons, the utensils, the cookies, etc. After adding them in, I went back and added the base colors to all of them. I referred back to the four colors I chose and changed up the value when needed.

I wanted to add even more details into my illustrations that I knew I wouldn’t be able to achieve in Illustrator, so I started exploring for different apps to use and came across Adobe Fresco. It was actually quite simple and really fun to use to add in the details that I wanted, like small shading throughout and even a little cracked egg.

After including all of the small details and labeling, I added the definition of my word to the bottom right and then the background color.

Final Product

“Let’s go bakies!”

Zooming In On the Details

Reflection

Overall, I’m satisfied with how my final product turned out. It was really fun brainstorming how each letter could be illustrated using baking supplies or ingredients. I felt that I was able to be really creative in this project. Also, I was able to explore more platforms to work on and use in my projects. Adding in all the small details definitely gave my piece an entirely new look and brought it to something that I didn’t think I would be able to achieve. However, I do think that are some places that I could work on. The letter “E” gets a little lost and doesn’t really look like the letter unless you look closer. In a way, that could be a good or bad thing. I would say my favorite letter is the “A.” I love how the oven turned out with the detailing on the stove and on the oven window. Plus, you can see through the window to see the inside which I thought was a nice touch. This project makes me excited to explore more with other apps when doing digital projects.

 

Link to Portfolio Piece: Mashup

Research

20 Abstractions

When taking pictures, I tried getting a good array of images that I could make interesting abstractions with. In the drawings, I tried finding patterns that people wouldn’t typically see in these everyday things and drawing out abstractions that didn’t become non-objective.

Practicing and Making the Radial Grid

 

Choosing Color Schemes

Since all of the elements that I included in my mandala were originally yellow or at least had some hints of yellow in it, I figured it was appropriate to have a monochromatic color scheme for one of my mandalas. I wanted to stay true to the original colors of the elements in at least one mandala.

For my other colored mandala, I wanted to completely change the scheme and colors involved. Since the first mandala was centered around the color yellow, I decided to use colors on the opposite side of the color wheel to make the mandalas look very different from each other. I decided on an analogous color scheme so I could stay on the other side of the color wheel while utilizing more colors.

 

Exercises

3″x 3″ Exercise

I started off making a pattern that turned into a tessellation once lined up. I realized that my abstractions were too non-objective and unrecognizable once I used them. I attempted to fix it as shown in the second photo, but was still unhappy with it. I ended up starting a new combination of human-made and natural forms as shown on the right. I was also able to experiment more with value in my new iteration.

9″ x 9″ Grids

I made two seperate grids using the 3″x 3″squares. Each one was completely different from the other and I was able to test out many techniques that I needed throughout the rest of the project.

 

Iterations

Round One

 

From left to right, you can see the evolution of my mandala during this first round of iterations. My first one had absolutely no value and was very bland. With each new iteration, I started changing up the sizing of certain things and tried including more value into everything. Despite having all of the elements with each other, they weren’t very connected and interactive with each other. What I had come up with for my “final” seemed lackluster and in need of more, so I just started experimenting with many more iterations.

Round Two

After being unsatisfied with my previous mandal iterations and feedback from my professor, I made multiple new iterations that were completely different from each other. With each of my new iterations, I experimented with changing the sizing and layering of all of my elements.

 

Production

Brainstorming/Planning

After playing around with my honeycomb abstraction in the 3″x 3″ and 9″ x 9″ grid exercise, I got inspired to use elements revolving around bees and honey. Shown on the left, I drew out the bees, honey bottle and dipper, and all of the other things that I wanted to include. Also, I initially mapped out where I wanted to put each element as shown on the right.

Fixing up the draft

The iteration that I did previously was more for experimentation purposes, so I cleaned it up before adding in the color. I fixed the value of many of the elements, especially the honeycomb, and made sure things were correctly aligned with each other.

Adding Color

Adding in color was both fun and challenging. I really liked seeing the mandala being brought to life with color, but using the value from the original mandala in the colored version was a difficult thing to achieve.

Final Product

I like how the different colors and schemes bring out a different element in each of the mandalas. The numerous iterations that I made led up to my final and it was nice to see how much my mandala evolved from the first iteration. Also, using more color and learning about color schemes in this project was very interesting and a whole new learning experience.

 

Link to Portfolio Piece: Pattern and Abstractions

Research

Slow-looking activities

Colors, Shapes, Lines, 10×2 Observations, Slow-looking in Hayes Hall

These first couple activities using slow-looking helped me notice the small details of things and practice my observation skills.

Written Journey

 

 

 

 

My table group decided to go the Cane’s for this activity. We mainly focused on larger points of interest to include in the directions, but also mentioned smells that we noticed on our way to our delicious destination. We may or may not have stopped by for some lunch. 🙂

Map Room

Guided Drawing Instructions

For this activity, my table group decided to make a simplified Block O our subject. We put in a lot of detail with specific degrees and inches to help out whoever was attempting to follow our directions. It was actually more difficult than we had anticipated since the Block O needed measurements to look like what it needed to.{”

Texture Drawing Activity

This paper was more challenging than I thought. I don’t have much experience with shading, so trying to figure out how it relates with the light was a bit difficult.

Finding Images For Map

https://ohiounion.osu.edu/meetings_events/our_spaces/west_plaza

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hagerty_Hall_Ohio_State.jpg

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/hayes-hall-ohio-state-john-mcgraw.html

https://www.osu.edu/features/hidden-gems/university-seal.html

Even though I took pictures of the buildings that I knew I wanted to emphasize in my map, I decided to use some photos from the internet so I had a better perspective of some of the buildings/landmarks when I traced. I also pulled up a map to help me map out where each building, sidewalk, and road was. These were the only photos that I used for tracing, but the rest were the personal photos that I took.

 

Exercises

Exercise 1- Writing

Part One- 

1. Start at Hayes Hall 
2. Turn left and walk towards the Wexner Center of the Arts construction site. 
3. Once you reach the end of the sidewalk, make a right onto the curvy and sloped sidewalk along the road and along Hagerty Hall 
4. Keep walking along this sidewalk and continue until you reach the intersection of College Rd and Hagerty Dr.  
5. Use the crosswalk straight ahead to cross the road. You should be walking towards the large glass bus stop sculpture. 
6. Make a left and cross the career again, this time facing the Ohio Union South parking garage. 
7. Turn right onto the steep ramp and continue walking until you reach the doors of the building in front of you.  
8. The door handles will have the letters OHIO on them, open and you’ve arrived 🙂 

Part Two- 

1. As you turn left, you’ll hear the construction and occasionally see dust in the air. 
2. As you walk along the sloped sidewalk, to your left you’ll see part of High St. and the tall, white buildings. On your right, you’ll see the many trees and green grass of the Oval.  
3. When you’re walking near the intersection, you’ll hear buses, cars, and see a lot of people. This area is typically very populated with students and cars since there is a parking garage and your destination is a very common place for people to go to. 
4. You’ll see two bus stops near your destination, hence why you’ll hear a lot of buses. 
5. Take note of the chalk writing on the ground as you approach the building.  

For the first part, I described the path that one would need to take to the Union. I tried to be very specific when describing the path and even described what structures they should be seeing. For second part, I went more into detail with what the person should be hearing and what they would be seeing if they used slow-looking techniques.

Exercise 2- Photographs

Part One-

Part Two-

For part one of this exercise, I took photos of the actual path to take to get to the Ohio Union. I took the pictures with the mindset of them being a specific guide or a map using just photos. In the second part, I went into more detail with the photos and took pictures of things the person walking down the path may not notice.

 

Production

Digital Draft

To start, I used Adobe Illustrator to write over an image of a map. I began experimenting with what to include in my map, like outlining the path and buildings. I honestly wasn’t too sure what my map was supposed to look like, but knew I needed something and decided to start with this.

Rough Sketch/ Draft

After getting a decent idea of what I wanted to do for the map, I turned to tracing paper and starting roughly sketching out what my map was going to look like. I decided to make my map vertical instead of horizontal like I had originally planned after seeing an actual map of it and realizing that I preferred that type of layout anyways since it would be too crammed if it was horizontal.

Map Check-In

This map check-in was very helpful. I was really struggling to see how the activities that we did about slow-looking had any part in helping us construct a map. I was so used to doing activities involved practicing drawing techniques or researching more for the project, so doing the slow-looking activities and scavenger hunts threw me off a little. Also, I was honestly very confused on what the project needed to be. Did it need to be just a literal map? Did it need to include our directions? Is the map supposed to look a certain way? After this meeting, I realized that the possibilities were endless. It cleared up a lot of questions and concerns that I had.

Testing Different Layouts

After the map check-in, I experimented a little more with the layout options for my map. My first option was my original idea of highlighting the path and specific landmarks or buildings on the map with no written directions. For my second option, I split up the paper. The map would be on one side and the directions on the other. I considered putting in the actual directions to help the person using the map even more. The third option played off of the second. I folded it and turned it into a booklet that would be more decorated and rundown to appear as if it had been used for a very long time.

I ultimately decided to go with my original idea, because I thought the drawings, highlighted path, and key would be enough of a guide for someone using the map without any added directions. However, I did change some aspects, like blowing up the landmarks and drawing them as if they were viewed from the path instead of just as overhead outline.

Tracing onto Paper

I used the first rough draft that I did of my original idea and traced it onto drawing paper using the light table. At this point, I only drew the roads and basic outlines of the surrounding buildings.

To make the blown-up landmarks, I taped tracing paper onto my iPad and traced each one. I made sure to correctly size the image I was tracing with how big I wanted it to be on my map.

After tracing each building and landmark, I went to the light table again and put a small piece of drawing paper over the tracing paper to trace onto it. I cut out each section individually and glued them onto the map. I wanted to draw out the points of interests on separate pieces of paper so they would be slightly elevated once I glued them onto the map.

Last Minute Changes

After a long day of working on the map, I thought I was finished. However, I began thinking about it more and came back the next morning to see areas on the map that I wasn’t very satisfied with. The right corner was looking empty and the key didn’t have nearly enough symbols on it. The pictures below are what I did to fix the issues I saw. I updated the key and added back in a landmark that I originally edited out.

Final Product

I outlined the pathway and landmark labels in red to make them stand out more. For the non-visual sense, I used volume buttons and drawings of the sounds to outline what the person may hear around the area.

 

Link to Portfolio Piece: Space and Time Walk

Research

“Perfect” Cube

We started off the project by doing an exercise where we make a 3 inch cube out of Bristol board that is “perfect.” This was a good exercise to introduce us to making templates/nets and emphasizing the importance of precision.

Trapezoid

Next, we made a 3-D trapezoid. In this exercise, we explored slightly more complex forms and learned more about how the angles in the forms affect the tabs and other parts of the form.

Top, Bottom, Plan

This exercise helped me with understanding how our perspectives of a piece can alter how it looks to us. I got a little tripped up when making the top plan and left/right elevation. I kept mistaking the face of the side for the plan/elevation of it. After really focusing on the actual view of it, I was able to correctly draw it.

Orthographic, Isometric/Axonometric Drawing

 

Iterations

Revisiting A2 shapes

After going through my shapes that I made from Assignment 2, I chose these three shapes to focus on. Though the shapes are quite simple, I wanted to experiment more with concave elements in a form. Each of these shapes have some concave elements to them, so that is why I decided to use these shapes.

Extruded Shapes, Net/Templates

Once I chose my shapes to use for this exercise, I began making templates for each of them. I started off by mirroring my shape and including a panel in between them so there was a face that would eventually become the extruded part. For the rest of the faces, I just tried to picture in my head what would need a side and a tab. The tabs ended up being the most difficult for me, because I was struggling with where and where not to put them. However, I was able to nail the measurements of the templates and they all folded up into a completed form.

This was the first form I completed and I came across some issues as I began gluing it together. I realized that I didn’t have enough tabs, so I had to use tape. Also, even though the measurements all lined up and were correct, I made the template a little small and had some difficulty when trying to reach those small places to glue down.

For my next two forms, I used my previous mistakes to improve these. I added the correct amount of tabs with these by really visualizing what connected with what, which is something that I struggled with the first time. Also, I scaled up my template so the construction would be easier and not as troublesome.

These are my three final forms for this exercise. I was quite pleased with how they turned out and how clean they looked. Making these three forms taught me a lot about template-making, which definitely helped me in the long run for my final product.

Changing Angles, Shapes, Elevations

The pictures here show how I achieved changing the angles and elevations of one of my extruded forms. One the left, you can see the many scraps as the result of my experimenting. I started by creating a smaller face that was half of the original shape. From then on, I was completely just experimenting with the paper. I cut and taped, then cut and taped again. It was a long process, but I was happy once I was able to figure out a template that fit together.

Experimenting with More Complexity

Even though I had already changed my extruded form to a form using more angles, I wasn’t satisfied. It quite bluntly just looked boring to me. It wasn’t very dynamic or interesting to me, so I cut out a section from the side of my form. It was an abrupt decision and quite difficult to really achieve, but I was much more satisfied with the form. I ultimately decided that I was going to use this form as my final form once I realized how much I liked the form’s shape and how interesting it was. The picture to the far left reveals the markings on the form that show where I was considering cutting out a section. The other photos show the constructed form out of drawing paper with the measurements on them.

 

Production

Making the template

Using the template that I made from drawing paper, I switched over to the Bristol board so I could see how it would be constructed in the material once I made the template. I also began making my template digitally, because I knew I wanted my final sculpture to focus on modularity. Making my template digitally significantly helped with consistency and uniformity later on when I made my sculpture since I was able to print out multiple templates on card stock.

Finding and Fixing Mistakes

After making my temple in Bristol board, I decided to glue it together and found out that there were some issues in my measurements. As you can see in the first two photos, the sides were not lining up perfectly and was causing a slight bend in the material. I tried finding for the origin of this issue and realized that my measurements were off by 1/16 of an inch on my drawing paper template. The picture on the far right shows this. This small mistake started warping the entire piece, so I went back to all of my templates to fix this issue. This mistake was very eye-opening to the intense level of precision that we need to complete our forms and how the smallest things can make the biggest difference.

I then switched to digital template to make quicker iterations and fixes. Since I was completing this part at home, I had to deconstruct shape a little since I only had 8×12 printer paper at home and needed to print out the template to see if my alterations were working. After fixing my previous mistake, I ended up making problems at different parts of the shape. I had to make multiple trips to the printer that night.

After many trials and tribulations, I was able to construct a template with the exact measurements that I needed. I originally created the template with completely solid lines so my form wouldn’t have very obvious dotted lines when I created it. Also, I made the lines grey instead of black to further lessen it’s visibility after it’s construction.

Finalizing Template and Making Instructions

Template

I previously had my temple blank and just solid lines, mostly because editing it that way was easier and that template was just for my individual use. When finalizing my template, I turned the fold lines into dotted lines and also had to use color to differentiate where to score the line. Some of my tabs had to be scored from the back since they need to folded inward because of the concave sections on my form. I also added letters throughout the template to help whoever is making them connect the correct tab to the correct side in a specific order. I found the easiest way to glue the form together and needed some type of markers on the template to help guide the person making it, so I chose letters.

Instructions

1. Use a ruler to cut along all of the solid grey lines around the border of the template. You can cut away all of the access paper beforehand to make it easier if you would like.  
2. Score the Bristol board along the grey dotted lines. Be sure not to use too much pressure and use a ruler for precision. 
3. The black dotted lines will be scored from the back since they need to be folded outward. You can either go to the light table to mark where those lines are on the back and score them, or fold in the surrounding grey dotted lines to pinpoint where the ends of the black dotted tabs are and score them that way. 
4. Now that all dotted lines have been scored, fold along the lines. Be careful not to rip through the scoring. Pay attention to the corners as they will not line up with everything if it is not completely folded. The black dotted lines will fold the opposite way of the gray dotted lines. 
5. The final step is to glue the form together using the tabs. There are letters all along the shape to help you with this step. The uppercase letters are on the sides and the lowercase letters are the tabs that with be glued to the corresponding sides from the inside. For example, side “A” will be glued to tab “a”. 
6. Start by gluing letter “A” together and then continue gluing the tabs to the sides alphabetically. Be sure to go “A” to “K” as it is the easiest way to glue everything together. To apply pressure in the narrow sections as they are gluing, I’d suggest using a small ruler or pencil to hold the tab down as it dries. Your last tab to glue will be the letter “K.” After that, you have completed the form. 

Testing Different Construction Methods

I knew that I wanted to stack my form, but I needed to find a way that would hold the forms together securely and wouldn’t tip my sculpture over when I put all of the forms together. My form extends back and upwards, so balance was a big concern. I experimented with tape, dowels, and fishing line, but quickly found out that glue was my best option. I was able to test the complete final form using glue, as showed on the right, and it successfully did not tip over.

Final Product

Original Form

Sculpture

Comparison

My original form depended a lot on angles, which in turn made the shape more dynamic. Also, the section that is taken in makes a unique shape and is an eye-catching part. The top view especially highlights all of the angles and how the concave section adds to the form’s dimension. The final sculpture really takes the original form to the next level. The stacked forms going up create a sense of movement towards the sky. I really like how the sculpture almost looks like it is defying gravity when you view it from the side. The sculpture goes quite far back and still doesn’t tip over, which overall looks very cool and impressive. The sculpture makes the form look like it is being extended or pulled up. Both the form and sculpture are dynamic in their own ways, which helped the overall image of them in the end.

 

Link to Portfolio Piece: 2D to 3D Translation